Maria Cristina Fragas (July 24, 1856 – April 20, 1936), known by her pen name, Cristina Ayala, was an

Afro-Cuban Afro-Cubans or Black Cubans are Cubans of West African ancestry. The term ''Afro-Cuban'' can also refer to historical or cultural elements in Cuba thought to emanate from this community and the combining of native African and other cultural ele ...

writer and poet.

Biography

The daughter of a Creole mother who was enslaved and an unknown father, she was born free in

Güines Güines is a municipality and town in the Mayabeque Province of Cuba. It is located southeast of Havana, next to the Mayabeque River. It is the most populated town, but not the capital, of its province. History The city was founded in 1737 by t ...

, Cuba, on July 24, 1856. She did not marry until 1912, when she wed Cecilio Larrondo. Fragas died in Güines in 1936 at the age of 79.

Writing

Her work was published in various newspapers and journals including ''El Pueblo Libre'' and ''El Sufragista'', as well as in ''Minerva'', a magazine dedicated to black women for which she was a founding editor. She is believed to be the first Afro-Hispanic writer to talk about race in her poetry. In her work, she opposed slavery and supported racial equality and national independence for all Cubans. A collection of her work, ''Ofrendas Mayabequinas'', was published in 1926 with a foreword by Valentin Cuesta Jimenez.

Recognition

After her death, the town council of Güines named a street in her honour. The street was renamed after the

Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution ( es, Revolución Cubana) was carried out after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état which placed Fulgencio Batista as head of state and the failed mass strike in opposition that followed. After failing to contest Batista in cou ...

and no longer exists.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ayala, Cristina 1856 births 1936 deaths 20th-century Cuban poets 20th-century Cuban women writers 20th-century pseudonymous writers Cuban people of African descent Cuban women poets Pseudonymous women writers